Working Holiday visa (subclass 417)
First Working Holiday visa

First Working Holiday visa

This visa lets people 18 to 30 years old (or 35 years old for some countries) have their first extended holiday in Australia and work here to help fund their trip.

You must have a passport from an eligible country or jurisdiction

You can work while you are here

You can apply for a second Working Holiday visa if you meet certain eligibility criteria

Stay

12 months

Cost

AUD650.00

Processing Time

For an indication of processing times for this visa, use the visa processing time guide tool. This will show the processing times for recently decided applications. It is a guide only and not specific to your application.

Your application may take longer to process than the times shown in the guide due to the number of Working Holiday visa applications we receive. Do not arrange travel to Australia before we tell you in writing that we have granted your visa.

With this visa you can

Work

You can do any kind of work on this visa.

Usually, you can only work for the same employer for 6 months.

If the main purpose of your stay is to work, consider a work visa. Explore visa options.

Study

You can study for up to 4 months (17 weeks).

If the main purpose of your stay is to study, consider a Student visa.

How long you can stay

This is a temporary visa. You must enter Australia within 12 months of the date we grant it. We will not extend or defer this timeframe.

The visa’s period of stay starts on the date you enter Australia. Once you have entered, you can:

  • stay in Australia for up to 12 months
  • leave and re-enter Australia as many times as you like in those 12 months

Please Note:

  • You do not need to apply for another visa to enter Australia, such as an eVisitor (subclass 651) visa, once you have been granted your Working Holiday Visa.
  • If you apply for and are granted another visa (such as subclass 651 visa) after the grant of your Working Holiday visa, your Working Holiday visa (and related work rights) will cease on the date that visa is granted.
  • If your first Working Holiday visa ceased due to the grant of another visa, such as an eVisitor visa, and you entered Australia on that other visa, you will not be able to apply for another first Working Holiday visa while you are in Australia.

You have another visa

Your Working Holiday visa starts on the date you enter or transit through Australia even if you hold any other temporary visa including:

  • a Special Purpose visa
  • an Electronic Travel Authority
  • a Crew Travel Authority
  • a Maritime Crew visa

It is important that you only apply for a Working Holiday visa once you are ready to enter Australia on that visa. Once we grant your Working Holiday visa and you travel to Australia and are immigration cleared at the border, the 12-month visa period of stay will automatically start upon entry, regardless of the purpose of your visit.

Stay longer

You can’t stay in Australia longer by extending this visa. If you want to stay in Australia longer, apply for another visa.

Explore your visa options to stay longer in Australia.

You could apply for a second Working Holiday visa if you are eligible.

Stay longer on a Visitor visa

The total time you will be permitted to stay on your first Working Holiday visa and then a Visitor visa is 12 consecutive months.

If you want to apply for a Visitor visa to stay longer in Australia and the Visitor visa would result in you staying longer than 12 consecutive months in Australia, you must show there are exceptional circumstances.

For this visa, exceptional circumstances might be that a close family member in Australia has died or is seriously ill and you are required to stay in Australia to provide assistance or support.

Include family

You can’t include family members in your application.

You can’t be accompanied by dependent children while you are in Australia on this visa.

Cost

AUD650.00

You might also have to pay for health checks, police certificates and biometrics.